Ornamental parts and manufacturing method thereof

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides an ornamental exterior panel having a lustrous appearance and a method for manufacturing such a panel at lower cost. The method comprises the steps of forming a part having front and rear faces with a transparent plastic material, applying an adhesive on the rear face of the part, dispersedly applying colored or lustrous fine particles onto the adhesive, and coating with a selected color tone of paint over the resulting rear face of the part. The ornamental panel comprises an outer body which is formed of a transparent plastic and the front face of which is exposed outside of the panel, an adhesive layer formed on the rear face of the outer body, a number of colored or lustrous fine particles which are dispersedly distributed over the adhesive layer, and a coated layer formed on the rear face of the adhesive layer. The front side of the panel is provided with a lustrous yielded by the transparent plastic material comprising the outer body and an ornamental appearance yielded by the dispersedly distributed fine particles and the coated layer formed on the rear face of the adhesive layer. The panel may comprise an outer body which is formed of a transparent plastic material and the front face of which is exposed outside of the panel, an intermediate coated layer formed on the rear face of the outer body, and a coated layer formed on the rear face of the intermediate coated layer, wherein the intermediate coated layer is formed of a transparent paint having colored or lustrous fine particles mixed therewith.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to an ornamental part and amanufacturing method thereof More specifically, the present inventionrelates, but is not limited, to an exterior panel for apparatuses, suchas televisions and personal computers, and to an ornamental exteriorpanel suitable for an exterior panel of a telephone, such as portablephones, and a manufacturing method thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] It has been variously attempted to improve the appearance of thedisplay frames used in televisions and personal computers, by finishingthem in lustrous form. However, in the present circumstances, it isdifficult to obtain a lustrous product through one-time coating orpainting. For this reason, it is generally practiced to coat with atransparent, lustrous paint over the initial painting. Such lustrouscoating finish is expensive and thus difficult to be employed forapplications with the indispensable requirement of low-cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0003] In view of the aforementioned circumstance, it is an object ofthe present invention to provide a method capable of manufacturing anornamental exterior panel with a lustrous appearance in low-cost and toprovide an ornamental panel manufactured by this method.

[0004] In order to achieve the aforementioned object, in one aspect ofthe present invention, there is provided a manufacturing methodcomprising the steps of forming a part having front and rear faces witha transparent plastic or resin material, applying an adhesive on therear face of the part, dispersedly applying colored or lustrous fineparticles onto the adhesive, and coating with a paint having a selectedcolor tone over the resulting rear face of the part.

[0005] According to another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a method for manufacturing an ornamental part, comprising thesteps of forming a part having front and rear faces with a transparentplastic or resin material, coating the rear face of the part with atransparent paint having colored or lustrous fine particles mixedtherewith, and coating with a desired color of paint over the resultingcoated layer.

[0006] According to still another aspect of the present invention, thereis provided a method for manufacturing an ornamental part, comprisingthe steps of forming a part having front and rear faces with a plasticor resin material, coating with a paint having a desired color tone overthe front face of the part, dispersedly applying colored or lustrousfine particles onto the coated layer before this coated layer dries up,and coating with a transparent paint over the resulting coated layer.

[0007] According to yet another aspect of the present invention, thereis provided a method for manufacturing an exterior part of electronicsapparatuses, which has a lustrous exterior appearance. As to painting,metallic coating or painting may be applied as well as regular painting.

[0008] In still a further aspect of the present invention, there isprovided an ornamental exterior panel comprising at least part of afront face of an electronic apparatus. This panel comprises an outerbody which is formed of a transparent plastic or resin material and thefront face of which is exposed outside of the panel, an adhesive layerformed on the rear face of the outer body, a number of colored orlustrous fine particles which are dispersedly distributed over theadhesive layer, and a coated layer formed on the resulting rear face ofthe adhesive layer, whereby the front side of the panel has a lustrousyielded by the transparent plastic material comprising the outer bodyand an ornamental appearance yielded by the dispersedly distributed fineparticles and the coated layer formed on the resulting rear face of theadhesive layer. This panel may also comprise an outer body which isformed of a transparent plastic or resin material and the front face ofwhich is exposed outside of the panel, an intermediate coated layerformed on the rear face of the outer body, and a coated layer formed onthe rear face of the intermediate coated layer, wherein the intermediatecoated layer is formed of a transparent paint having colored or lustrousfine particles mixed therewith. In this case, the front side of thepanel may also have a lustrous yielded by the transparent plasticmaterial comprising the outer body, and an ornamental appearance yieldedby the fine particles dispersedly distributed on the intermediate coatedlayer and the coated layer formed on the rear face of the intermediatecoated layer. In other embodiment, the panel may comprise an outer bodyformed of a plastic or resin material, a coated layer having a desiredcolor tone and formed on the outer layer, a number of colored orlustrous fine particles which are dispersedly distributed over thecoated layer, and an overcoated layer coated with a transparent paintand formed on the coated layer and the fine particles, whereby the frontside of the panel has a lustrous yielded by the overcoated layer and anornamental appearance yielded by the dispersedly distributed fineparticles and the coated layer having the desired color tone formed onthe rear side of the dispersedly distributed fine particles.

[0009] In a front face of a television or other apparatus having adisplay screen, this panel may be configured as an ornamental frame forornamentalizing around the television screen or display screen. Thispanel may also be configured as a panel comprising at least one of aside face and an upper face of the television or other apparatus havinga display screen. Further, the panel of the present invention may beapplied to telephones, such as portable phones. Furthermore, the panelof the present invention may be applied to any other ornamental parts,such as photo or picture frames. In the present invention, any suitablefine particles or fragments may be applicable, while a typical exampleincludes fine particles or fragments of metallic foil or paper.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010]FIG. 1 is a rear perspective view showing one example of apersonal computer cabinet implementing the present invention;

[0011]FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the cabinet shown inFIG. 1;

[0012]FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of the cabinet shown in FIG. 1;

[0013]FIG. 4 is a front exploded perspective view of the cabinet shownin FIG. 1;

[0014]FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a construction of an ornamentalframe of the cabinet, taken along the line A-A of FIG. 2;

[0015]FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view showing a structure forattaching an ornamental frame to a mounting frame, wherein FIG. 6 (a)shows a state before engaging, and FIG. 6 (b) shows an engaged state;

[0016]FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing an assembled state of thecabinet, taken along the line B-B of FIG. 1;

[0017]FIG. 8 is a front exploded perspective view showing a personalcomputer cabinet according to another embodiment of the presentinvention;

[0018]FIG. 9 is a front exploded perspective view showing a personalcomputer cabinet according to still another embodiment of the presentinvention;

[0019]FIG. 10 is a sectional view in the same form as FIG. 5, showing anornamental frame according to yet another embodiment of the presentinvention; and

[0020]FIG. 11 is a sectional view in the same form as FIG. 5, showing anornamental frame according to still a further embodiment of the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0021] With reference to the drawings, embodiments of the presentinvention will now be described. FIG. 1 is a rear perspective viewgenerally showing a cabinet 1 of a television or personal computer. Asshown in the exploded view of FIG. 2, the cabinet 1 comprises a cabinetbody 2, a mounting frame 3 attached to the front face of the cabinetbody 2 by ordinary methods, and an ornamental frame 4 attached to thefront face of the mounting frame 3. FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are a frontperspective and front exploded views of the cabinet 1, respectively. ACRT (not shown) is to be installed in the cabinet 1 by ordinary methods.

[0022] In this embodiment of the present invention, the ornamental frame4 located at the forefront of the cabinet 1 is formed by the method ofthe present invention. The ornamental frame 4 is made in a framestructure consisting of a front face portion 5 and a surrounding frameportion 6. FIG. 5 shows a section of the ornamental frame 4, and theornamental frame 4 includes a frame body 4 a which is manufacturedthrough the molding of a hard transparent plastic or resin material. Anadhesive layer 4 b is formed on approximately entire inner or rear faceof the frame body 4 a. Before the adhesive layer 4 b dries up, foil-likemetallic fine particles or fragments 4 c having lustrous are applied onthe adhesive layer 4 b. While the metallic fine particles 4 c are shownas a layer in FIG. 5, this is only for giving a graphic representation.Practically, the metallic fine particles 4 c are dispersedly appliedover the adhesive layer 4 b with appropriate spaces therebetween. Themetallic fine particle is not limited to the foil-like particle, and anyforms of particles, such as metallic powder, may be used. A coated layer4 d is formed on the adhesive layer 4 b on which the metallic fineparticles 4 c are applied. This coated layer 4 d may be formed byordinary coating or painting techniques. It is desirable to coat with apaint having a color which allows the color tone of the coated layer tobe observed and allows the color or lustrous of the metallic fineparticles to be enhanced or stood out, when observed from the front faceof the frame body 4 a formed by the transparent plastic material. It isalso possible to apply the metallic coating.

[0023] For the transparent plastic material to form the frame body 4 a,it is desirable to use either polycarbonate resin or methacryl resin,but any transparent, hard plastic material may be applied. For theadhesive, any adhesives which can be generally used to plastic materialsmay be applied. The adhesive layer may be formed by ordinary methods,such as brushing, coating or spraying. The application of the metallicfine particles is required to perform before the adhesive layer 4 bdries up. It is also an effective approach to use pigment of fineparticles or paper fragments as a substitute for the metallic fineparticles.

[0024] When observed from the front face of the ornamental frame 4formed by the above method, the surface of the ornamental frame 4 has atransparency with lustrous and presents an ornamental appearance suchthat the fine particles of metal or the like are scattered as stars inthe night sky over the color tone of the coated layer. This ornamentalframe 4 is attached to the front face of the mounting frame 3 of thecabinet 1. For attaching the ornamental frame 4, the mounting tab 7 isformed at the rear end of the surrounding frame portion 6 of theornamental frame 4. As shown in FIG. 4, a step portion 3 a is formed inthe mounting frame 3 in order to receive the ornamental frame 4, and atab receiving groove 3 b is formed at an adequate location of the stepportion 3 a. FIG. 6 (a) and (b) show an engaging relationship betweenthe tab receiving groove 3 b and the tab 7. As shown in these figures,the tab formed in the surrounding frame portion 6 of the ornamentalframe 4 is inserted into the tab receiving groove 3 b formed in the stepportion 3 a of the mounting frame 3. Then, the tab 7 is engaged with anengagement end 3 c formed inside of the tab receiving groove 3 b. FIG.6(a) and FIG. 6(b) show the state before engaging and the engaged state,respectively. FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing the cabinet 1 in theassembled state.

[0025]FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In thisembodiment, a cabinet 11 comprises a cabinet body 12, a mounting frame13 and an ornamental frame 14 attached on the front face of the cabinet11, just as seen in the aforementioned embodiment. The construction ofthe ornamental frame 14 is also same as in the aforementionedembodiment. In this embodiment, each ornamental panel 15 is attached toboth side faces and the upper face of the mounting frame 13. As with theornamental frame 4 described in connection with the aforementionedembodiment, the ornamental panel 15 includes a body formed of atransparent hard plastic material and an adhesive layer formed on therear face of the body, and metallic foil particles or other kinds offine particles are dispersedly applied on the adhesive layer before theadhesive layer dries up. Then, the adhesive layer applied with themetallic foil or other kinds of fine particles is coated with paintthereover. The ornamental panel 15 may be attached on the mounting frame13 with adhesives.

[0026]FIG. 9 shows still another embodiment of the present invention. Inthis embodiment, a cabinet 21 comprises a cabinet body 22, a mountingframe 23, and an ornamental panel 24 on the front face of the cabinet21. The ornamental panel 24 is shaped to cover four sides of the frontface of the mounting frame 23. As with the ornamental frames 4, 14 andornamental panel 15 described in connection with the aforementionedembodiments, the ornamental panel 24 includes a body formed of atransparent hard plastic material and an adhesive layer formed on therear face of the body, and metallic foil particles or other kinds offine particles are dispersedly applied on the adhesive layer before theadhesive layer dries up. Then, the adhesive layer applied with themetallic foil particles or other kinds of fine particles is coated withpaint thereover. The ornamental panel 24 may be attached on the mountingframe 23 with adhesives.

[0027] The present invention is applicable not only to cabinets oftelevisions or personal computers, but also to various ornamentalpanels. For instance, the ornamental panel of the present invention maybe applied to a body of a telephone. Portable phones are one of productsuitable for applying the present invention. The present invention mayalso be applied to picture or photo frames.

[0028]FIG. 10 is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 5, showing yetanother embodiment of the present invention. A method according to thisembodiment may provide a more simplified process than that in the methodaccording to the aforementioned embodiments, so that manufacturing costsmay be reduced. In this embodiment, a frame body 4 a of an ornamentalframe 4 is formed of a transparent plastic material, as with each methodin the aforementioned embodiments. Then, the rear face of the frame body4 a is coated with a transparent paint having metallic foil particles orother kinds of fine particles mixed therewith so as to form anintermediate coated layer 4 d. The intermediate coated layer 4 d isfurther coated with a paint having a desired color so as to form acoated layer 4 e thereover. This embodiment allows the painting processto be completed by two steps so that manufacturing costs may be reduced.In addition, an ornamental aesthetic appearance may be yielded as withthe ornamental panels in the aforementioned embodiments.

[0029]FIG. 11 is a sectional view corresponding to FIGS. 5 and 10,showing still a further embodiment of the present invention. In thisembodiment, it is unnecessary for the frame body 4 a to be formed of atransparent material. A coated layer 4 f having a desired tone isprovided on the frame body 4 a formed of a plastic material. Then,metallic foil particles 4 g or other kinds of fine particles aredispersedly applied on the coated layer 4 f having a desired tone beforethe coated layer 4 f dries up. The metallic foil particles or otherkinds of fine particles are then coated with a transparent paintthereover so as to form an overcoated layer 4 h. In this embodiment, alustrous appearance is yielded by the overcoated layer 4 h, and anornamental appearance is also yielded by allowing the metallic foilparticles 4 g or other kinds of fine particles and the coated layer 4 fhaving a desired tone to be observed through the overcoated layer 4 h.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for manufacturing an ornamental part,comprising the steps of: forming a part having front and rear faces witha transparent plastic material; applying an adhesive on said rear faceof said part; dispersedly applying colored or lustrous fine particlesonto said adhesive; and coating with paint over the resulting rear faceof said part.
 2. A method for manufacturing an ornamental part,comprising the steps of: forming a part having front and rear faces witha transparent plastic material; coating said rear face of said part witha transparent paint having colored or lustrous fine particles mixedtherewith; and coating with a paint having a desired color over theresulting coated layer.
 3. A method for manufacturing an exterior partof electronics apparatuses having a lustrous exterior appearance, saidmethod comprising the steps of: forming said exterior part with atransparent plastic material; applying an adhesive on the rear face ofsaid formed exterior part; dispersedly applying colored fine particlesonto said adhesive; and coating with paint over the resulting rear faceof said exterior part.
 4. A method for manufacturing an exterior part ofelectronics apparatuses having a lustrous exterior appearance, saidmethod comprising the steps of: forming said exterior part with atransparent plastic material; coating said rear face of said formedexterior part with a transparent paint having colored or lustrous fineparticles mixed therewith; and coating with a paint having a desiredcolor over the resulting coated layer.
 5. An ornamental exterior panelcomprising at least part of a front face of an electronic apparatus,said ornamental exterior panel comprising: an outer body which is formedof a transparent plastic material and the front face of which is exposedoutside of said panel; an adhesive layer formed on the rear face of saidouter body; a number of colored or lustrous fine particles which aredispersedly distributed over said adhesive layer; and a coated layerformed on the resulting rear face of said adhesive layer, whereby thefront side of said panel has a lustrous yielded by said transparentplastic material comprising said outer body and an ornamental appearanceyielded by said dispersedly distributed fine particles and said coatedlayer formed on said resulting rear face of said adhesive layer.
 6. Anornamental exterior panel comprising at least part of a front face of anelectronic apparatus, said ornamental exterior panel comprising: anouter body which is formed of a transparent plastic material and thefront face of which is exposed outside of said panel; an intermediatecoated layer formed on the rear face of said outer body; and a coatedlayer formed on the rear face of said intermediate coated layer, whereinsaid intermediate coated layer is formed of a transparent paint havingcolored or lustrous fine particles mixed therewith, whereby the frontside of said panel has a lustrous yielded by said transparent plasticmaterial comprising said outer body and an ornamental appearance yieldedby said fine particles dispersedly distributed on said intermediatecoated layer and said coated layer formed on said rear face of saidintermediate coated layer.
 7. A method for manufacturing an ornamentalpart, comprising the steps of: forming a part having front and rearfaces with a plastic or resin material; coating with a paint having adesired color tone over the front face of said part; dispersedlyapplying colored or lustrous fine particles onto said coated layerbefore said coated layer dries up; and coating with a transparent paintover the resulting coated layer.
 8. A method for manufacturing anexterior part of electronics apparatuses having a lustrous exteriorappearance, said method comprising the steps of: forming said exteriorpart with a transparent plastic material; coating with a paint having adesired color tone over the front face of said formed exterior part;dispersedly applying colored or lustrous fine particles onto said coatedlayer before said coated layer dries up; and coating with a transparentpaint over the resulting coated layer.
 9. An ornamental exterior panelcomprising at least part of a front face of an electronic apparatus,said ornamental exterior panel comprising: an outer body formed of aplastic material; a coated layer having a desired color tone and formedon said outer layer; a number of colored or lustrous fine particleswhich are dispersedly distributed over said coated layer; and anovercoated layer coated with a transparent paint and formed on theresulting front face of said coated layer, whereby the front side ofsaid panel has a lustrous yielded by said overcoated layer and anornamental appearance yielded by said dispersedly distributed fineparticles and said coated layer having the desired color tone formed onthe rear side of said dispersedly distributed fine particles.
 10. Anornamental exterior panel as defined in either one of claims 5, 6 and 9,wherein said panel is an ornamental frame for ornamentalizing around atelevision screen or a display screen in a front face of a television oran apparatus having said display screen.
 11. An ornamental exteriorpanel as defined in either one of claims 5, 6 and 9, wherein said panelis a panel comprising at least one of a side face and an upper face of atelevision or an apparatus having a display screen.
 12. An ornamentalexterior panel as defined in either one of claims 5, 6 and 9, whereinsaid electronic apparatus is a telephone.
 13. An ornamental exteriorpanel as defined in claim 12 , wherein said telephone is a portablephone.
 14. An ornamental exterior panel as defined in either one ofclaims 5, 6, and 9 to 13, wherein said fine particles are fine particlesof metallic foil or paper.